Museums
Rijksmuseum
Jan Luykenstraat 1
Open daily 9am-6pm
One of the world’s great art museums, the Rijksmuseum first opened in 1800 in the Hague and moved to Amsterdam in 1809. The current Renaissance-Gothic structure opened in 1885. Its collection includes a large number of magnificent Dutch paintings from the Golden Age (the most famous being Rembrandt’s Night Watch) as well as many 19th-century works and a substantial collection of Asian art. The museum is currently undergoing a major 10-year restoration, and will fully reopen on April 13, 2013 with a completely new layout and facilities and a brand-new Asian pavilion. In the meantime, 400 masterworks of the Golden Age will be on view in the Philips Wing until Mar 17.
Van Gogh Museum
Until Apr 25, 2013: Hermitage Amsterdam
Amstel 51
Tel: +31 (20) 570 52 00
Open daily, 9 am - 5 pm
This museum houses the world’s largest collection of works by Van Gogh – over 200 paintings as well as drawings and letters. The exhibit chronicles his short and turbulent life, from his beginnings in Holland to his years in France. Major works include The Potato Eaters, The Bedroom, Sunflowers, and Irises. For kids, the museum offers workshops and an engaging treasure hunt. The museum is currently closed for renovation until April 25, 2013, but 75 works are on display at the Hermitage in the meantime.
Anne Frank House
Prinsengracht 263-267
Open daily Sep 15-Mar 14 9am-7pm (Sat 9am-9pm); Mar 15-Sep 14, 9am-9pm (Sat from 9am-10pm). Jul & Aug, open daily until 10pm.
Jewish teenager Anne Frank and her family hid from the Nazis within this house for two years during World War II. Her famous diary chronicles those years and shows her fear and frustration at having to stay in hiding. Eventually the family was betrayed to the Gestapo and sent to Auschwitz. Visiting the Secret Annexe where they lived is a profoundly moving experience – those rooms have been left largely intact, while the lower levels provide history and background through interactive displays.
The Anne Frank House is interesting and educational for children 10 years and up, although is advisable to prepare young children for their visit. The museum provides a list of suggestions here.
Stedelijk Museum
Museumplein 10
Tel: +31 (20) 573 29 11
Open daily 10am-6pm (Thu until 10pm)
Amsterdam’s main venue for contemporary and modern art recently underwent a major renovation, including a daring and controversial new wing known as the “bathtub.” The permanent collection features a number of works by Piet Mondriaan, Kasimir Malevich and Marc Chagall.
Hermitage Amsterdam
Amstel 51
Tel: +31 (20) 530 74 88
Open daily 9am to 5pm. Closed Apr 30 and Dec 25.
The Amstelhof was built in the 1680s as an almshouse for elderly women, and later became a hospital before going out of service in the 1980s. After much debate, it was eventually turned into a large and impressive museum housing works on loan from the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Several excellent themed exhibits are held here each year.
Rembrandt House Museum
Jodenbreestraat 4
Tel: +31 (20) 520 0400
Open daily 10am-6pm. Closed Jan 1, Apr 30 and Dec 25.
The Netherlands’ most famous painter lived and worked in this house from 1639 to 1656, at the highest point in his career. The house dates from 1606, the year Rembrandt was born – it has been painstakingly restored and furnished in period style. Visitors can tour his studio, living/bedroom and anteroom. The museum holds a nearly complete collection of Rembrandt’s etchings – a changing selection is on display, with anywhere from 20 to 100 on exhibit at a time.
Museum Van Loon
Keizersgracht 672
Tel: + 31 (20) 62 45 255
Open Wed-Mon 11am-5pm. Closed Tuesdays and Jan 1, Apr 30 and Dec 25.
Built in 1672, this house was once the residence of the Van Loon family (co-founders of the Dutch East India Company). Now a museum, it is the only place one can view an original canal house complete with garden and coach house. The house is beautifully furnished in 18th-century style and hung with numerous family portraits and important paintings, while the coach house has a large collection of antique coaches and harnesses.
Museum of Bags and Purses (Tassen Museum Hendrikje)
Herengracht 573
Tel: +31 (20) 52 46 452
Open daily 10am-5pm. Closed Jan 1, Apr 30 and Dec 25.
Located in a historic canal house that belonged to Amsterdam’s mayor during the Golden Age, this wonderful museum holds the world’s largest collection of bags. Items on display span 500 years, from a 16th-century bag made of goat’s leather, to a leather clutch given to first-class passengers on the maiden voyage of the Normandie in 1935, to a crystal-encrusted Judith Leiber bag from 1997 shaped like a cupcake.
Netherlands Historisch Scheepvaartsmusem
Kattenburgerplein 1
Tel: +31 (20) 52 32 222
Open daily 9am-5pm. Closed Jan 1, Apr 30 and Dec 25.
Amsterdam has a long and rich maritime culture. The National Maritime Museum explores 500 years of maritime history with a wide range of interactive exhibits, many designed especially for children. Highlights include yacht models, navigational instruments and the Amsterdam, an exact replica of an 18th-century East Indian Trading Company ship. The museum is housed in the historic 's Lands Zeemagazijn (the Arsenal), which underwent a major restoration between 2007 and 2011.
Verzetsmuseum (Dutch Resistance Museum)
Plantage Kerklaan 61
Tel: +31 (20) 620 25 35
Open Tue-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat-Mon and Public Holidays 11am-5pm
The Dutch Resistance Museum tells the moving and fascinating story of the Dutch citizens who fought the Nazis from within during WWII. Through evocative photos, documents, film clips and other artifacts, it brings to life the dilemmas that faced the population, and highlights the different forms of resistance, from active to passive.
Tropenmuseum (Tropics Museum)
Linnaeusstraat 2
Tel: +31 (20) 56 88 200
Open Tue-Sun 10am-5pm, Mon (public holidays and school holidays, except summer holidays) 10am-5pm
Part of the Royal Tropical Institute, the Tropenmuseum is one of Europe’s leading ethnographic museum. The Dutch once had colonies all over the world, and the museum exhibits a huge collection of colonial artifacts from the Americas, Africa and Asia. Exhibits include replicas of a Moroccan souk, a Nigerian village and a Central Asian yurt, along with tribal masks, carved figurines, jewelry, textiles, and objects related to dance, theater and music. The museum is especially fascinating for children, and offers a range of special activities and programs for kids.